Hanover men edge Transy to reach HCAC championship

Hanover College moved a game closer to securing a bid in the NCAA Division III basketball tourney with an 87-82 win over Transylvania University in the semifinals of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament.

The Panthers matched their season high from beyond the arc with 14 3-pointers and outscored the Pioneers 21-13 at the foul line to advance to tonight's HCAC championship against defending tourney champ Rose-Hulman, a 81-59 winner over Defiance in Friday's second semifinal.

Ryan Nowicki, a senior guard from Westfield, sank two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Hanover an 85-82 lead, then blocked a 3-point attempt at the other end of the floor to help secure the Panthers' sixth berth in the league tourney's championship game.

Brian Gunter, a senior from Louisville, Ky., led five Hanover players in double figures. Gunter scored 20 points, including two free throws with 1.5 seconds left for the final margin.

Tim Bass, a sophomore guard from Indianapolis, just missed a double-double for Hanover had 18 points and nine assists, while Desmond Marks, a sophomore center from Bloomington, added a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Drake Hendricks, a senior guard from Muncie, scored a dozen for the Panthers and Nowicki finished with 11 as the Panthers improved to 18-8 on the season.

Transylvania 6-foot-4 senior forward Ethan Spurlin, a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American as a junior, poured in a game-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds while senior guard Barrett Meyer added 17 as the Pioneers close out the season at 20-7.

Hanover shot 49 percent from the floor (26-of-53) including 14-of-32 from beyond the arc (44 percent). Transylvania was 32-of-61 from the field (53 percent), but just 5-of-20 on 3-pointers (25 percent).

The contest was the first HCAC tourney meeting between Hanover and Transylvania and gave the Panthers a 3-0 sweep over the Pioneers in 2012-13. Transylvania was an at-large qualifier to the Division III national tourney last year after finishing as runner-up to Rose-Hulman in the HCAC tournament.

The Panthers and Engineers will tip off at 7 p.m. today at Hulbert Arena in Terre Haute where the winner will earn the HCAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament.